Plastipak acquires Evolve Polymers Ltd.’s assets

Plastipak Packaging Inc., headquartered in Plymouth, Michigan, with European headquarters in Wrexham, U.K., says it has completed the acquisition of the business assets of Hemswell Cliff, U.K.-based Evolve Polymers Ltd., one of Europe’s leading plastics recyclers. Plastipak is a leading global manufacturer of rigid plastic packaging and virgin and recycled plastic resin.

Plastipak’s global recycling operations currently recycle billions of bottles per year. The Evolve site being acquired from Aurelius Equity Opportunities has the capacity to process an additional 6 billion to 9 billion PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles into food-grade-contact flake and pellets and polypropylene and polyethylene flake. The business will begin operating immediately under Plastipak’s ownership. Contracts with Evolve’s existing key business partners have been secured for continued effect, the company says.

Evolve was established from the assets of bottle sorting and recycling firm Eco Plastics, which went into prepack administration in December 2014, with debts totalling more than £14 million (nearly $17.5 million). A new company named ECOPlastics Recycling was established at that point and bought out by Aurelius, based in Germany.

“Evolve’s prior owners invested significant resources to build the Hemswell Cliff site starting in 2006, and the business’ performance benefited from continuous improvements,” says Martin Hargreaves, managing director, Plastipak Europe. “We currently operate plastic recycling operations in the U.S. through our Clean Tech subsidiary and in France and Luxembourg for our European customers.  This acquisition complements our existing recycling businesses and amplifies our ability to bring our world-class technologies and know-how to better serve our U.K. and European-based customers.”

Frank Pollock, president of Plastipak’s international operations and chief commercial officer, says, “We are excited to begin collaborating further with the management and associates formerly employed by Evolve to provide more eco-friendly plastic packaging to consumers.

“We have been a pioneer in the plastic recycling industry,” he continues, “and recycling is one of our core organizational capabilities. PET is already among the most-recycled materials in the global regions in which we operate, and increasing the use of rPET (recycled PET) in Plastipak’s products makes plastic an even better choice for consumers, the community and the environment.”

Aurelius says it will concentrate all its plastic recycling activities at its Regain Polymers subsidiary based in Allerton Bywater, U.K. Regain Polymers specializes in the development and production of structural components made from recycled plastic.